A prospective study of sentinel lymph node detection in vulval carcinoma: is it time for a change in clinical practice?

OBJECTIVES: To determine the accuracy of sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection in vulval carcinoma and to report the reliability and safety of this procedure. METHODS/MATERIALS: For a period of 6 years, we recruited women undergoing surgery for vulval carcinoma. All women had a preoperative biopsy confirming the depth of invasion greater than 1 mm. Sentinel lymph node detection was performed using the combined method (Tc-99m and methylene-blue dye). The standard management included complete inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy. When inguinofemoral lymph nodes were found grossly to be enlarged, these nodes were debulked, and the women subsequently treated with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. During the last 2 years of the study, a selected group of women had an SLN dissection alone. The SLNs were ultrastaged when they were negative on routine hematoxylin and eosin examination. RESULTS: Among 60 women undergoing SLN detection, SLN was detected in 59 women (98.3%) with combined method. Blue dye did not detect an SLN in 3 women resulting in a 93.3% detection rate. The median SLN count was 2 nodes (range, 1-9). Of the 60 women, 41 had inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy, 4 had only enlarged inguinofemoral nodes debulked, and 15 had the SLN only removed. The non-SLN count was 9 nodes (range, 3-17). There were no false-negative SLNs. Twenty-one women (35%) had positive nodes on final histology. Ultrastaging increased detection of metastases in 6.9% of nodes relative to routine hematoxylin and eosin examination and upstaged 12% of women. The median follow-up was 24 months (range, 2-66 months). CONCLUSIONS: Sentinel lymph node detection is safe and accurate in assessing lymph node status in women with vulval cancer undergoing staging. The combined method using Tc-99m and methylene blue dye injection for SLN detection has the best detection rate. Routine ultrastaging of negative SLN improves the detection of nodal metastases.

Laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) versus total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) in endometrial carcinoma: prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility and safety of laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy in the treatment of presumed stage I endometrial cancer. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort study without randomization of 182 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for early endometrial cancer or atypical hyperplasia at the West Kent Gynaecological Oncology Centre, UK. Seventy-four had laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO), and 108 had a total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Lymphadenectomy was performed in 153 patients, and lymph node sampling was performed in 2 patients. Twenty-seven patients with serous papillary endometrial cancer in addition had an omentectomy. The groups were compared for epidemiological and clinical characteristics, surgical outcomes, hospital stay, lymph node harvest, and intraoperative and postoperative complications. RESULTS: The patients in the laparoscopy group had less blood loss, similar number of lymph nodes removed, less need for analgesia, and shorter hospital stay but longer operative time than those treated by laparotomy. In our study, we had 4 conversions (5.4%) from laparoscopy to laparotomy. Twenty-eight (41%) patients who had laparoscopic surgery were obese (body mass index [BMI] >30 kg/m2). Postoperative complications were more common in the laparotomy group (34%) than in the laparoscopy group (6%). No major complications occurred in the laparoscopy group. Wound infection was the most common complication in laparotomy patients, and this invariably happened to obese patients (BMI >30 kg/m2). There were 6 readmissions, all from the laparotomy group. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic surgery is a safe and reliable alternative to open surgery in the management of early endometrial cancer patients, with significantly reduced hospital stay and complications, especially in those patients with an elevated BMI.

Twenty-five years' clinical experience with placental site trophoblastic tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To describe 34 cases of placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT) treated at Charing Cross Hospital over 25 years. STUDY DESIGN: Between 1975 and 2001, 1,685 patients with gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) were treated; 34 of them had PSTT (2%). The computer database clinical notes and the pathology reports were accessed to obtain data on this patient group. The data were subsequently analyzed using Excel computer software. RESULTS: The mean age of the group was 33 years (95% CI 25-41). The antecedent pregnancy was a full-term, normal one in 18 cases (53%), a molar pregnancy in 7 (21%) and a missed abortion in 5 (15%). The mean interval from the last pregnancy to diagnosis was 3.4 years (95% CI 1.9-4.9). The range of serum hCG concentrations at diagnosis was 0-58,000, 79% with levels < 1,000 and 58% < 500. hCG was raised in all with active disease. The most frequent presenting complaint was vaginal bleeding, in 27 cases (79%). At diagnosis, the disease was localized to the uterus in 15 (44%); there was pelvic involvement in 8 (24%) and lung secondaries in 10 (29%). All seven deaths were disease related (21%); all had lung secondaries and presented more than four years since the last pregnancy. Excluding the seven deaths, the primary treatment was surgery alone in 10 cases (37%) (8 hysterectomies and 2 dilatation and curettages); 4 had surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy; 5 had neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery; 1 had chemotherapy alone, and the disease recurred and was successfully rechallenged; and 5 had surgery between chemotherapy cycles. The most common regimens consisted of EMA/CO and EP/EMA. CONCLUSION: Risk factors for death include lung metastatic involvement (50%) and an antecedent pregnancy interval of four years or more (100%). In contrast, those with no extrapelvic disease or a pregnancy interval of less than four years had 100% survival. In two-thirds of patients with disease limited to the uterus, surgery alone was curative. The WHO scoring system for GTD did not correlate with this outcome. Patients with PSTT should be managed separately from those with other types of GTD, as the disease behavior is different.